Record material cutting mechanism

ABSTRACT

A mechanism for use in a cash register for selectively varying the cutting depth across a receipt member which includes a stationary cutting member, a spring loaded movable cutting member having a compound cutting surface for simultaneously cutting, in cooperation with the stationary cutting member, the receipt member from both sides, a blocking member selectively operated from the keyboard of the cash register for controlling the length of movement of the movable cutting member, and a latch member for selectively releasing the movable cutting member for a cutting operation.

United States Patent Bradam Nov. 26, 1974 RECORD MATERIAL CUTTING MECHANISM Primary Examiner]. M. Meister Attorney, Agent, or Firm-J. T. Cavender; Wilbert [75] Inventor. gtillilam R. Bradam, Cambridge, Hawk JR; Richard w- Lavin [73] Assignee: NCR Corporation, Dayton, Ohio [57] ABSTRACT Filed: July 1973 A mechanism for use in a cash register for selectively [21] Appl. No.: 387,662 varying the cutting depth across a receipt member which includes a stationary cutting member, a spring loaded movable cutting member having a compound U-S- 87, cutting urface for imultaneously cutting in coopera- 83/607, 83/917 tion with the stationary cutting member, the receipt member from ides a blocking member elec- Field of Search 83/529 530, 586, tively operated from the keyboard of the cash register 83/587 607, 608, 683 for controlling the length of movement of the movable cutting member, and a latch member for selectively References cued releasing the movable cutting member for a cutting UNITED STATES PATENTS operation.

2,219,242 10/1940 Weber 83/587 X 2,587,030 2 1952 Carlson 83/530 x 15 Chums 4 Drawmg Flgures I I 44 I 53 51 I 45 a 14 i 5 I] A l\ I 56 52 f K. t nfilflfizf 38 35 U g, o

RECORD MATERIAL CUTTING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In merchandising operations wherein a cash register or other type of accounting machine is utilized to calculate the amount due and paid, a copy of the transaction in the form of a printed receipt is given to the customer. Present cash registers cut the receipt by perforating a row of holes or slots across the receipt creating a large amount of paper dust which is released into the register thereby creating problems in the operation of the cash register. In some application, a receipt is issued, a portion of which is to be returned by the customer if the merchandise is found defective. That portion of the receipt to be returned is required to be partially cut to facilitate its separation from the receipt. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a receipt cutting mechanism in which the depth of cut can be selectively varied from the keyboard of a cash register. It is a further object to provide a cutting mechanism which will eliminate as much dust as possible. It is another object of this invention to provide a cutting mechanism which is simple in construction and therefore low in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to carry out these objects there is provided a cutting mechanism which includes a stationary knife member, a movable knife member having a compound concave-convex cutting surface, a solenoid operated control member movable between a plurality of presettable control positions for limiting the cutting movement ofthe movable knife member, and a cyclically operated latch member for releasing the movable knife member for operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of the knife mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the knife operating arm and link.

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic view of a receipt roll showing a partial cut made by the cutting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is the same as FIG. 3 except a full cut is made by the cutting mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED INVENTION Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a side view of the knife member secured to a support member 21 by means of a rivet 22. Rotatably mounted on a stud 23 secured to the knife member 20 and the support member 21 is a knife holder 24. Mounted in the knife holder 24 by means of studs 25 is a knife member 26 having a compound cutting surface which includes a front concave cutting surface 27 to form with a rear convex cutting surface 28, a generally concave cutting configuration. The knife member 26 is slightly bowed lengthwise in the middle as mounted in the knife holder 24 to allow the knife member 26 to contact the knife member 20 at only one point on each end. A compression spring 29 mounted between the knife member 26 and the side of the holder 24 keeps pressure on the two points of contact with the knife member 20 as the knife member 26 is rotated clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1.

Secured to an upper arm portion 30 of the knife holder 24 is a spring 31 the other end of which is connected to the machine frame work (not shown) of the cash register. The spring 31 normally urges the knife holder 24 and the knife member 26 in a clock-wise direction about the stud 23 to cut a receipt roll 32 (FIGS. 3 and 4) in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter. A rear extension 33 of the knife holder 24 has a bent-over tab portion 34 which extends through a slot 35 in the support member 21.

Rotatably mounted on the rear side of the support member 21 by means of a stud 36 is a latch member 37 which includes a lower blocking surface 38 and a rear arm extension 40. A spring 41, secured between a top extension 42 of the latch member 37 and a top extension 43 of the support member 21, normally urges the latch member in a clockwise direction to position the blocking surface 38 above the bent-over portion 34 of the knife holder 24 thereby blocking the clockwise movement of the knife holder.

Extending through a slot 44 in the support member 21 is one end of a knife operating arm 45 (FIGS. 1 and 2) pivotally mounted at 46 to the machine framework (not shown). Pivotally secured to the arm 45 is a link member 47 having a slot 48 at its lower end in which is mounted one end. of a cam follow arm 50. The cam follow arm 50 follows the circumference of a cam (not shown) which movement oscillates the cam follower arm 50 in a manner well known in the art. The oscillatory movement of the arm 50 will be transmitted to the link 47 which will rotate the arm 45 first in a counterclockwise direction and then in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. The counter-clockwise movement of the arm 45 will engage the extension 40 (FIG. 1) of the latch member 37 rocking the latch member in a counter-clockwise direction thus removing the blocking surface 38 from engagement with the bent-over portion 34 of the knife holder 24. This action allows the spring 31 to rotate the knife holder 24 in a clockwise direction to allow the knife member 26 to coact with the knife member 20 to cut the receipt roll 32 along two points of contact as described previously. As the knife member 26 continues its clockwise rotation, the two points of contact between the knife members will move towards the center of the receipt roll cutting the pages with a scissors action.

After the receipt roll 32 has been cut, the arm 45 will be rotated in a clockwise direction by the link 47 as described previously. This downward movement of the arm 45 will engage and rotate the knife holder 24 in a counter-clockwise direction allowing the spring 41 to rotate the latch member 37 and the blocking surface 38 to a latching position with the knife holder 24. Thus the knife holder 24 is positioned for a subsequent cutting operation.

In order to control the depth of cut of the knife member 27, there is rotatably mounted on the stud 36 a control arm 51 having a lower stop arcuate surface 52 and a rear extending arm portion 53. Located adjacent the arm portion 53 is a curved slot 54 in the support member 21 in which are located a pair of movably positioned stop screws 55, 56. Secured to a stud 57 mounted on the top of the control arm 51 are a pair of springs 58, 60. The other end of the spring 58 is secured to the arm 61 of a solenoid 62 while the other end of spring 60 is secured to the top extension 43 of the support member 21. Normally the spring 60 will rotate the control arm 51 clockwise allowing the arm to be positioned by the engagement of the arm portion 53 with the positioning screw 55. The position of the control arm 51 in this first instance will position the rear portion of the arcuate stop surface 52 to limit the clockwise rotation of the knife member 26 thus controlling the depth of cut of the receipt roll. Normally the location of the screw 55 in the position shown in FIG. 1 will allow a full cut of the receipt roll as shown in FIG. 4.

If the merchandising operation requires that a partial cut is to be made so that the receipt may be subsequently torn off at this point, depression of a predetermined transaction key on the keyboard of the cash register will energize the solenoid 62 resulting in the leftward movement of the solenoid arm 61 which, through the action of the spring 58, will rotate the control arm 51 in a clockwise direction until the arm portion 53 engages the lower positioning screw 56. This clockwise movement of the control arm 51 is against the action of the spring 60.

Thepositioning of the control arm 51 by the screw 56 will position the front portion of the arcuate stop surface 52 so as to limit the clockwise rotation of the knife 26. In this case the knife is stopped after partially cutting through both sides of the receipt roll 32 as shown in FIG. 3. It is obvious from this construction that positioning the screw 56 along the slot 54 will vary the depth of the cut of the receipt by the knife 26. in addition, if a full cut is not required, positioning of the screw 55 along the slot 54 will allow for two different depths of cut of the receipt roll 32.

After the partial cut of the receipt roll (FIG. 3) has occurred, the solenoid 62 will be deenergized allowing the spring 60 to rock the control arm 51 counterclockwise until it is stopped by the screw 55. in the present embodiment, as described previously, this position will allow the knife 26 to cut the full width of the receipt as shown in FIG. 4.

It will thus be seen that this knife construction allows for any depth of cut of the receipt paper to be easily programmed for automatic operation during a machine cycle. The concave design of the cutting knife allows for a very short stroke of the knife to provide a full cut thus simplifying the complexity of the controlling mechanism. With the use of this knife mechanism, the possibility of machine malfunction due to paper dust emanating from the cutting operation is obviously eliminated.

What is claimed:

1. in a data terminal device constructed and arranged to perform a plurality of recording operations on a record member, a mechanism for selectively controlling the width of cut on the record member including a. stationary knife means;

b. movable knife means cooperating with said stationary knife means to cut across a record member positioned therebetween when moved in a cutting direction;

c. first actuating means engaging said movable knife means for normally moving said knife in a cutting direction;

d. means movable to a plurality of control positions in the path of movement of said movable knife means for limiting the length of movement of said movable knife means in a cutting direction commensurate to the control position of said limiting means;

e. second actuating means engaging said limiting means for normally moving said limiting means to a first control position for limiting the movement of the knife means to cut the record member a first predetermined depth; and

f. a selectively operable actuating means engaging said limiting means for moving said limiting means to a second control position when operated whereby the knife means cuts the record member a second predetermined depth.

2. The cutting mechanism of claim 1 in which said limiting means includes a. a control member movably mounted adjacent said knife means and having a plurality of stop surfaces located thereon for limiting the length of movement of said knife means; and

b. adjustable stop means positioned adjacent said control member whereby upon movement of said control member by said normally moving means and actuating means, stop surfaces on said control member will control the movement of the knife means to cut the record member predetermined widths.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said movable knife means includes a. a rotatably mounted knife holder, and

b. a knife member secured to said knife holder, said knife member having a pair of longitudinally spaced cutting surfaces for cutting the record member from opposite sides.

4. The mechanism of claim 3 in which the cutting surfaces of said knife member comprises a concave cutting surface and a convex cutting surface.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 in which the knife member is mounted in the knife holder in a bowed position, and which includes a resilient member engaging said knife member and normally urging said knife member in a bowed direction.

6. In a data terminal device constructed and arranged to perform a plurality of recording operations on a record member, a mechanism for cutting across the record member through various widths including a. movable knife means positioned adjacent a record material;

b. first actuating means for normally urging said knife means in a direction to cut across the record material;

c. latching means for latching said knife means in a non-cutting position;

d. second actuating means operated during an operation of said terminal device for moving said latching means to a non-latching position thereby releasing the knife means to the action of said first actuating means;

e. blocking means mounted for movement to a position blocking the movement of said knife means in a cutting direction;

f. movable stop means for positioning said blocking means in a blocking position; and

g. selectively operable third actuating means for moving said blocking means into engagement with said stop means whereby the blocking means will limit the movement of said knife means in a cutting direction commensurate with the position of said stop means.

7. The cutting mechanism of claim 6 in which said blocking means includes a rotatably mounted blocking member positioned in the path of movement of said knife means, said blocking member having a plurality of stopping surfaces located thereon each varying the length of movement of said knife means in a cutting direction whereby upon the positioning of said blocking member by said stop means, one of said stopping surfaces will limit the length of movement of said knife means commensurate with the position of said stop means.

8. The cutting mechanism of claim 6 in which said knife means includes a. a rotatably mounted knife holder, and

b. a knife member secured to said knife holder, said knife member having a pair of longitudinally spaced cutting surfaces for cutting the record material from opposite sides during a cutting movement.

9. The cutting mechanism of claim 8 in which the cutting surfaces of said knife member comprises a concave cutting surface and a convex cutting surface.

10. The mechanism of claim 9 in which the knife member is mounted in the knife holder in a bowed position, and which includes a resilient member engaging said knife member and normally urging said knife member in a bowed direction.

11. The cutting mechanism of claim 7 in which said movable stop means includes first and second stop members selectively positioned adjacent said blocking member and said blocking member includes a sensing portion positioned between said stop members whereby rotation of said blocking member by said third actuating means will move the sensing portion of said blocking member into engagement with said first stop member thereby positioning a stopping surface on said blocking member in the path of movement of said knife means to provide a first predetermined length of cut of the record material.

12. The cutting mechanism of claim 11 which includes a fourth actuating member engaging said blocking member normally urging the sensing portion of said blocking member into engagement with said second stop member thereby positioning the blocking member to limit the movement of said knife means to provide a second predetermined length of cut of the record material.

13. The cutting mechanism of claim 7 in which the stopping surfaces of said blocking member comprises a surface on said blocking member positioned in the path of movement of said knife means, the surface being in a plane oblique to the plane of movement of said knife means, said surface moving in a direction perpendicular to the movement of said knife means to position a plurality of stopping surfaces in the path of movement of said knife means.

14'. The cutting mechanism of claim 11 in which said third actuating meansincludes an electromagnet operated actuating means engaging said blocking member for rotating, when energized, the sensing portion of said blocking member into engagement with said first stop member.

15. In a business machine constructed and arranged to perform a plurality of recording operations on a record member, a mechanism for cutting the record material through various widths including:

a. a stationary knife member positioned adjacent the record material;

b. a movable knife member having a pair of opposite end cutting surfaces to coact with said stationary knife member for cutting the record material at both edges when moved in a cutting direction;

c. means for controlling the length of movement of said movable knife member including a selectively positioned stop means;

d. means for normally urging said movable knife member in a cutting direction;

e. means for latching said movable knife member in a non-cutting direction;

f. cyclically operated actuating means for disabling said latching means during a machine operation; and

g. selectively operated blocking means positioned by said stop means in the path of movement of said movable knife member for limiting the movement .of said movable knife member in a cutting direction commensurate to the position of said stop means. 

1. In a data terminal device constructed and arranged to perform a plurality of recording operations on a record member, a mechanism for selectively controlling the width of cut on the record member including a. stationary knife means; b. movable knife means cooperating with said stationary knife means to cut across a record member positioned therebetween when moved in a cutting direction; c. first actuating means engaging said movable knife means for normally moving said knife in a cutting direction; d. means movable to a plurality of control positions in the path of movement of said movable knife means for limiting the length of movement of said movable knife means in a cutting direction commensurate to the control position of said limiting means; e. second actuating means engaging said limiting means for normally moving said limiting means to a first control position for limiting the movement of the knife means to cut the record member a first predetermined depth; and f. a selectively operable actuating means engaging said limiting means for moving said limiting means to a second control position when operated whereby the knife means cuts the record member a second predetermined depth.
 2. The cutting mechanism of claim 1 in which said limiting means includes a. a control member movably mounted adjacent said knife means and having a plurality of stop surfaces located thereon for limiting the length of movement of said knife means; and b. adjustable stop means positioned adjacent said control member whereby upon movement of said control member by said normally moving means and actuating means, stop surfaces on said control member will control the movement of the knife means to cut the record member predetermined widths.
 3. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said movable knife means includes a. a rotatably mounted knife holder, and b. a knife member secured to said knife holder, said knife member having a pair of Longitudinally spaced cutting surfaces for cutting the record member from opposite sides.
 4. The mechanism of claim 3 in which the cutting surfaces of said knife member comprises a concave cutting surface and a convex cutting surface.
 5. The mechanism of claim 4 in which the knife member is mounted in the knife holder in a bowed position, and which includes a resilient member engaging said knife member and normally urging said knife member in a bowed direction.
 6. In a data terminal device constructed and arranged to perform a plurality of recording operations on a record member, a mechanism for cutting across the record member through various widths including a. movable knife means positioned adjacent a record material; b. first actuating means for normally urging said knife means in a direction to cut across the record material; c. latching means for latching said knife means in a non-cutting position; d. second actuating means operated during an operation of said terminal device for moving said latching means to a non-latching position thereby releasing the knife means to the action of said first actuating means; e. blocking means mounted for movement to a position blocking the movement of said knife means in a cutting direction; f. movable stop means for positioning said blocking means in a blocking position; and g. selectively operable third actuating means for moving said blocking means into engagement with said stop means whereby the blocking means will limit the movement of said knife means in a cutting direction commensurate with the position of said stop means.
 7. The cutting mechanism of claim 6 in which said blocking means includes a rotatably mounted blocking member positioned in the path of movement of said knife means, said blocking member having a plurality of stopping surfaces located thereon each varying the length of movement of said knife means in a cutting direction whereby upon the positioning of said blocking member by said stop means, one of said stopping surfaces will limit the length of movement of said knife means commensurate with the position of said stop means.
 8. The cutting mechanism of claim 6 in which said knife means includes a. a rotatably mounted knife holder, and b. a knife member secured to said knife holder, said knife member having a pair of longitudinally spaced cutting surfaces for cutting the record material from opposite sides during a cutting movement.
 9. The cutting mechanism of claim 8 in which the cutting surfaces of said knife member comprises a concave cutting surface and a convex cutting surface.
 10. The mechanism of claim 9 in which the knife member is mounted in the knife holder in a bowed position, and which includes a resilient member engaging said knife member and normally urging said knife member in a bowed direction.
 11. The cutting mechanism of claim 7 in which said movable stop means includes first and second stop members selectively positioned adjacent said blocking member and said blocking member includes a sensing portion positioned between said stop members whereby rotation of said blocking member by said third actuating means will move the sensing portion of said blocking member into engagement with said first stop member thereby positioning a stopping surface on said blocking member in the path of movement of said knife means to provide a first predetermined length of cut of the record material.
 12. The cutting mechanism of claim 11 which includes a fourth actuating member engaging said blocking member normally urging the sensing portion of said blocking member into engagement with said second stop member thereby positioning the blocking member to limit the movement of said knife means to provide a second predetermined length of cut of the record material.
 13. The cutting mechanism of claim 7 in which the stopping surfaces of said blocking member comprises a surface on said blocking member positioned in the path of movement of sAid knife means, the surface being in a plane oblique to the plane of movement of said knife means, said surface moving in a direction perpendicular to the movement of said knife means to position a plurality of stopping surfaces in the path of movement of said knife means.
 14. The cutting mechanism of claim 11 in which said third actuating means includes an electromagnet operated actuating means engaging said blocking member for rotating, when energized, the sensing portion of said blocking member into engagement with said first stop member.
 15. In a business machine constructed and arranged to perform a plurality of recording operations on a record member, a mechanism for cutting the record material through various widths including: a. a stationary knife member positioned adjacent the record material; b. a movable knife member having a pair of opposite end cutting surfaces to coact with said stationary knife member for cutting the record material at both edges when moved in a cutting direction; c. means for controlling the length of movement of said movable knife member including a selectively positioned stop means; d. means for normally urging said movable knife member in a cutting direction; e. means for latching said movable knife member in a non-cutting direction; f. cyclically operated actuating means for disabling said latching means during a machine operation; and g. selectively operated blocking means positioned by said stop means in the path of movement of said movable knife member for limiting the movement of said movable knife member in a cutting direction commensurate to the position of said stop means. 